Khajuraho

Book excerpt: - A privileged visual journey through one of the most famous Indian heritage sites Situated in the northern Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Khajuraho is renowned as much for the elegance of its architecture as for the sensuality of its sculpture. Khajuraho has become one of the unmissable sights for any traveler to India, and owes its international reputation to the lavishness of its numerous Hindu shrines. Formerly an important political and religious center, it is thought to have contained up to ninety-five temples, as the many ruins concealed under otherwise-anonymous hillocks scattered throughout the valley attest. Only twenty-five survive. The earliest mention of Khajuraho dates from the seventh century. After the collapse of the Candella kingdom, the site experienced almost four centuries of oblivion, and the once proud city-state turned into a sleepy village nestling in what had become an arid basin for several months of the year. British hunters rediscovered it quite by chance at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Since then, the area has undergone several phases of restoration, as befits one of the leading sites of the world's cultural heritage. The highly unusual nature of its temple depictions has given this area a somewhat 'scandalous' reputation, unleashing, over the years, interpretations of all kinds.